Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Gift of Seeds - A Call to Action

Today, I received this very inspiring email from one of my blog readers, Dahlia:

Hi Thomas!

I've only just discovered your blog this summer, and I am really impressed by your garden.

I'm sure you've heard about the floods in Pakistan; I've been thinking about what I can do to help, but have been hesitating to send money, since it's been a little tight. But when I learned that farmland and crops have been destroyed, it occurred to me that I can help by sending seeds. I've found a British aid organization willing to distribute the seeds to needy farmers, all I have to do is collect the seeds and send them over.

I was wondering if you could spare some seeds: I have seeds to spare, but too few to make much of an impact, so I am appealing to fellow gardeners to send me their extra crop seeds. The seeds should be clearly labelled, and I will take care of placing them in little baggies (to protect them from humidity during travel) and sending them off.

I would really appreciate it if you could also spread the word.Sincerely,

I immediately thought of the Survival Seeds that Hometown Seeds had sent to me earlier this year. Specially sealed for long-duration storage, I thought it was only fitting that they be sent to someone across the globe who truly needed them now.

I'm a true believer in the fact that even small acts of kindness can greatly change the world for the better. If you would like to contribute to this effort as well, please reach out to Dahlia via her blog.

Thank you Thomas for broadcasting this effort! I'm already getting a lot of mail from other seed collectors.

I, like Thomas, think that pest are the least of our concerns at the moment, since entire crops and seed stocks have been destroyed. If you are worried that your seeds are affected, you can place your parcel in the freezer for 48 hours before sending it to me.

As I do not want my home address to be public knowledge, anyone interested in contributing seeds can email me at dahliajadephoenix@gmail.comand I will give you my address.

It is a very interesting idea. I wonder what kind of seeds they like? I certainly have some extra seeds, but if I sent for instance tomatillo seeds, would they know what to do with them? Do they eat kale or bok choy? I would guess that pole beans are not as good of a choice as bush beans but sadly I have a lot of pole bean seed, but not many bush beans. I ought to look through my seed stash.